In Whose Footsteps Follow
by MisheNahma
Summary: Naraku has been beaten...but something odd is still happening in the Feudal Era and Sesshomaru is on a quest of his own! Check back for more updates, still in very early stages!


Hello, reader! I have to say a great thankies to ye (no! down spell checker, down! thankies IS a word!!! arrrrg!). I know that you probably aren't impressed with the few amount of reviews I've gotten so far (none at this point.....wow that's sad), so I'm glad you went out on a limb and decided to read this anyway.  
  
Beyond that, I only want to comment that this fan fiction story is based on one I tried earlier (under a different penname) and failed miserably at. I'm going to try and rewrite it to new standards of fanfic excellence. But if you can guess what the original fanfic was, send me a review with its title and I'll post an extra special treat! Huzzah!  
  
Here goes!  
  
.........  
  
For the record, I do not own Inu-Yasha. But one day, yes one day...mwahahaha.....*shakes fist* Yes, one of these days! *cackle*  
  
In Whose Footsteps Follow  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Emerald green eyes flashed in the dim moonlight. They darted quickly around the hut before retreating into a dark corner, where they continued to look around suspiciously. Suddenly the eyes stopped, transfixed on something near the back of the hut.  
  
For a moment, nothing about the eyes stirred. Then slowly, so slowly, a pale, delicate hand reached out. It was so white it would've appeared to glow, had it been daytime. The hand reached out for the object the eyes stared at. It touched it delicately, froze, and then suddenly clenched it and held it aloft. The emerald eyes narrowed in scrutiny. The eyes slowly widened, and the hand dropped the object in shock. It crumpled softly back to where it had been originally.  
  
The hand lowered and the eyes stared for a few moments. Once again the hand rose, took the object and, shaking, held it up in the nighttime air. A faint choking noise issued from below the eyes as they stared.  
  
Elsewhere there was a grunt, and then, "Who's there?!"  
  
The eyes whipped around towards the voice, then back to the object in the pallid hand.  
  
"Show yourself, demon!"  
  
But the eyes had already disappeared.  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Kagome slowly hefted her bag out of the well. "Good god," she grumbled silently, "that is the LAST time I ever mention bulk packaging and ramen in the same sentence." Almost as if on cue, Inu-Yasha landed with a thump next to the well.  
  
He gave a quick sniff and yanked the bag out of Kagome's hands. "Keh! 'Bout time you got here........." Kagome's glare was lost on him as he rummaged through the various packages of ramen. He opened one of the packages out and started crunching on the raw noodles. "By the way," he said, cascading crumbs, "did you leave any shtuff in our village lasht time?"  
  
Kagome blinked at him. "No. Why? Did someone get food poisoning?"  
  
Inu-Yasha choked a bit and looked suspiciously at the noodles. Then he looked back up again and said clearly, "No, I mean stuff like your junky cloths."  
  
Kagome glowered at him. "I do NOT wear junky clothing!"  
  
"But did you?" Inu-Yasha persisted, going back to his snack.  
  
"Well, yes. I usually leave some old casual clothes in Kaede-bachan's hut in case I mess up my uniform. But what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
Inu-Yasha didn't answer for a few moments. He kept rummaging until he continued, "Well, the old bat Kaede thinks that a demon came into her hut last night and stole something."  
  
She gaped at him. "And.........is.........is she ok?"  
  
Inu-Yasha looked up and snickered. "Well, she has to be going crazy 'cuz the only thing missing is your extra pair of clothes."  
  
Kagome looked slightly taken aback at this. "Why on earth would a demon steal my clothes?"  
  
"Personally I think it was just another stupid human thief. But........." This time Inu-Yasha frowned thoughtfully. "The thing is, I can't find any scent at all, demon or no."  
  
They both stood still for a second, thinking about this. After a while Kagome started, slowly, "Well maybe I just forgot to replace my clothes this time........." Inu-Yasha just shrugged. "Kaede-baba's paranoid about demons, anyway. Let's get going; I'm still hungry," he said casually as he hefted the giant backpack onto his shoulder.  
  
Kagome stared thoughtfully at Inu-Yasha's retreating back until she finally shrugged and ran to catch up with him.  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Deeper in the forest, Sesshomaru trudged grudgingly until he reached a clearing. He came to a stop, not caring as to how much noise he made doing so. Slowly he looked around, frowning at the peaceful, but frustratingly empty meadow.  
  
Two weeks. Two solid, aggravating, hellish weeks had he been following his quarry, only to find that the scent was suddenly all but gone where he stood now. And now, of all the new scents he had to encounter, it just had to be his filthy half-brother's stench.  
  
Things had been relatively peaceful of late, more or less the way he, the great Sesshomaru, preferred it. But he was still angry at his brother. He had, of course, gotten over the incident with Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga by now, but still.........  
  
Sesshomaru's scowl deepened still further as he looked at the two swords strapped to his side. What a great fat lot of good those swords had been. In the end neither of them helped against Naraku: Toukijin wasn't enough to beat him, and whoever died by his hand couldn't be raised by Tenseiga. Naraku's acidic poison turned out to be too fast for continuous revival of bodies.........  
  
Sesshomaru gritted his teeth in silent anger. He, Sesshomaru, had been forced to rely on his half-breed brother and that stupid miko that followed him. By some fluke Inu-Yasha had sliced up Naraku and the miko had simultaneously destroyed the Skikon no Tama. But he, Sesshomaru, should've been the one to strike the final blow. It was he, the proud Sesshomaru, that should have achieved his long-sought vengeance. But once again the weak hanyou had made a fool of him. It made his blood curdle. Sesshomaru had to force himself to unclench his jaw.  
  
But no, he would not think of that particular loss right now. No, it was best to keep it out of mind. For now, he must deal with the business at hand.  
  
Sesshomaru started to walk again, this time in a slightly different direction.  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Twilight had come and gone by the time dinner was ready in the village. Kagome looked happily into the fire and breathed in the delicious scent of stew.  
  
"Kaede-bachan, is it ready now?" Kaede looked up from her cooking and nodded. "Arigato, Kaede-bachan." Kagome clapped her hands happily and went to the entrance of the hut. "Inu-Yasha!" Dinner's read-eek!" Inu-Yasha had landed in front of her after jumping off the roof.  
  
"I-Inu-Yasha! D-don't scare me like that!" Inu-Yasha pointed at her, laughing heartily.  
  
"Hahaha! BAKA! You shouldn't have kicked me out in the first place! Serves you right! Haha.....ha.....erk....." Kagome's face had gone from startled to a menacingly evil expression. Inu-Yasha stepped back a pace.  
  
"Inu-Yasha...Sit." Inu-Yasha sat. "Inu-Yasha, I wouldn't have kicked you out if you hadn't kept trying to eat all the food!" She turned on her heel and stomped back inside, leaving a twitching Inu-Yasha alone in the dust.  
  
"B.....baka.....erk....." Inu-Yasha grunted painfully as he got back onto his feet. "Owowow....." He rubbed his back tenderly and winced. Grumpily he marched into the hut, grumbling, "She's worse than Naraku ever was....."  
  
A pair of green eyes glittered intently at his retreating back.  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Sesshomaru ground his teeth silently. He had reached yet ANOTHER clearing. The stench of his half-brother had only gotten stronger, and the only difference between this clearing and every other one in the entire monotonous forest was an old abandoned well.  
  
Sesshomaru glared at it malevolently. He slowly unclenched his jaw and paced around the old well, not wanting to take any chances. Once he got around the hanyou's scent, he could easily pick up strong whiffs of that miko. Sesshomaru frowned disgustedly. No surprise there. Time to move on.....  
  
Sesshomaru stopped pacing. He took a deep breath and sifted again through the scents. There was the hanyou smell.....the miko smell.....the kitsune, the cat demon, a man, a woman.....  
  
There! It was THAT smell again! THIS was what he'd been searching for all day. Sesshomaru moved closer to the well and bent down to look at the bottom. He stood straight up again in mild surprise. The interior of the well didn't just have a whiff; it had soaked up the smell like a sponge.  
  
Sesshomaru stood, brooding over this new revelation. How on earth could he have not smelled that from at least a few miles away? He slowly traced a finger along the wood of the decrepit well. It glowed faintly blue in the darkness. Yes, there was the reason. Sesshomaru lowered his hand back to his side and looked in the direction of the village. Someone (probably that human brat, he thought absently.....) had tried to seal away the scent by ingraining a spell into the wood. Of course, both wood and spell should have resisted natural decay, but, knowing his idiot half-brother, they had probably been mangled anyway by ineptitude.  
  
Sesshomaru was catching up with his quarry. Sesshomaru smiled a horrible smile and decided he would have to arrange a small family reunion.  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Inu-Yasha leaned contentedly against the wall of the hut and looked around in the light of the dying fire. He smiled gently when his eyes rested on the sleeping figure of Kagome. Shippo busily snored next to her head on the pillow, and Sango slept quietly in a nearby sleeping bag.  
  
"Oy, Inu-Yasha," Inu-Yasha looked over to his right and saw that Miroku was still awake as well. He stammered quickly to cover up his embarrassment for staring at Kagome. "W-what?"  
  
Rather than taking a crack at Inu-Yasha, Miroku instead looked at the dying embers let out a deep sigh. "Inu-Yasha, I know you didn't take this seriously, but Kaede was really rattled. She says it there hasn't ever been a time when she couldn't sense a demon, much less let it sneak into her hut at night. I believe her, too."  
  
Inu-Yasha looked away. Eventually he grumbled, "I know. But what are we going to do about it? I don't even think it was even a demon, or I would've smelled it."  
  
Miroku pressed on. "Well, why do you think it stole Kagome's extra set of clothes then? That doesn't make sense for ordinary thieves. Only voodoo practitioners would want something personal like that. Remember Kikyo's ashes?" When Inu-Yasha didn't reply he added, "Kaede and I went out and set up some wards anyway. At the very least they'll warn us if anyone tries to sneak into the village again."  
  
Inu-Yasha frowned thoughtfully. Although the undead Kikyo had been a slightly different case, it wasn't too far a call to say that someone might want to try to do sweet Kagome in by subtler means than outright attacks. It had been tried before, too, when Kagome had still been linked to the Shikon. Inu-Yasha gripped Tetsusaiga hard. "Damn.....All this power and I still can't protect her....."  
  
Inu-Yasha's thoughts were interrupted abruptly. Miroku had stood up and grabbed his staff. He was looking at the entrance to the hut with an angry expression. "Inu-Yasha....."  
  
Inu-Yasha quickly leapt up, ready to draw his sword. "The wards.....?" Miroku nodded slowly, still staring at the door. Kaede had woken up by now. She instinctively seemed to understand what was going on. Inu-Yasha growled, "Kaede-baba, stay here and protect Kagome. Miroku, you come with me."  
  
The pair slipped out the entrance quickly. Miroku silently lead the way to the wards but hastily stuck out a hand to stop behind a hut. Inu-Yasha swiftly scanned the fields and gritted his teeth as his eyes fell upon a pale figure. Sesshomaru stood calmly looking at the wards he had ripped off the narrow pathway stretching between watery fields.  
  
Sesshomaru calmly turned his elegant head in their direction. "Inu-Yasha. Do not try to hide from me; I can recognize your stench from anywhere."  
  
Inu-Yasha stepped out from behind the hut and drew Tetsusaiga. "Keh. I should have known it'd be you. What do you want here, eh!?"  
  
Sesshomaru looked scornfully at him. "Do not try to feign ignorance, Inu- Yasha. Did you presume to think that I would not notice the seal on the well?"  
  
Inu-Yasha cocked an eyebrow. Before he could say anything, however, Miroku walked up behind him and calmly addressed the demon. "Sesshomaru, we know there is a magical well in the forest, but we have never put any seal on it. Please believe that we would try our utmost to avoid doing such a thing." Miroku held his breath, fearing another conflict.  
  
Sesshomaru was unconvinced. "Nevertheless, human, both the trail I have been following as well as Inu-Yasha's scent lead to this village. You shall explain this offense or face the full consequences of my wrath."  
  
"Keh! Still as stupid as ever, Sesshomaru. We never laid any seal! Go crawl back under the rock you came from!" Inu-Yasha spat.  
  
Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed angrily. He slowly, meaningfully began to draw Toujikin. "You wish to die, do you?" He said in a soft, dangerous voice. Inu-Yasha did not move; Miroku slowly moved into a battle stance closely behind him. It would be a hard fight without the full group nor Miroku's black hole.  
  
Neither of them had time to attack however. A high-pitched voiced suddenly issued from behind Miroku and Inu-Yasha. "Sesshomaru-sama, why are you pulling out your sword? Are these bad guys?"  
  
Inu-Yasha looked over his shoulder in surprise and Miroku, equally bewildered, followed suit. A small girl stood, her face looking pallid as her large, shining eyes stared worriedly at Sesshomaru. Inu-Yasha faintly wondered if he'd ever seen her in the village before.  
  
Inu-Yasha suddenly remembered why he was here and hurriedly faced Sesshomaru again. A surprised expression crept onto his face when he realized Sesshomaru was completely ignoring him. He had lowered Tojikin, and if Inu-Yasha didn't know better he'd say his face had gone rather pale.  
  
Sesshomaru's eyes were locked on the little girl.  
  
"Rin....."  
  
~:~:~:~:~:~  
  
Wee! And I bet you thought they were gonna fight for sure! What on earth is going on here? Where was Rin the whole time? Did someone really put a seal on the Bone-eater's Well? And what exactly is Sesshomaru looking for?  
  
Find out all this and more on the next episode of.....Stinkoman!  
  
Or maybe not. ^_^;;;  
  
REVIEW ANYWAY!!! 


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